In-class essay question for "Roll of Thunder, Hear my Cry"

Try to imagine yourself in the place of the Logans. How do you think you would have reacted to some of the challenges they faced everyday? What do you think you would have done?

Make sure you have a clear introduction with a thesis. Put your thesis in bold font.

ELA holiday break essay

This essay is due on Monday, January 4. Please choose one of the four questions below. You will use the notes you took in class to complete the essay and it will be graded using our standard rubric.

The Watsons go to Birmingham

Choice #1: Byron, the juvenile delinquent?

Kenny's older brother Byron is definitely one of the toughest kids at school, and he cant' seem to stop getting in trouble at home, either. Kenny describes his brother as a "delinquent," and Mrs. Waton threatens to send him to juvenile hall before she and Mr. Watson make the decision to take him to stay with Mrs. Watson's mother in Alabama. But does Byron have a good side?

Using at least 4 direct quotes from the book, write an essay at least 4 paragraphs long answering the questions: is Bryon a good brother or a bad brother to Kenny and Joetta? does he have a good side or is he just a delinquent?

Choice #2: Are the Watsons good or bad parents?

The Watsons have a handful when it comes to dealing with their kids, especially Byron. Using at least 4 direct quotes from the book, write an essay at least 4 paragraphs long answering the questions: Do you think they are good or bad parents? would you want to live with them?

Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry

Though the scenes of "night riders" might be the most dramatic in Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry, one of the book's themes are ways in which people can be oppressed without the use of violence. Using at least 6 direct quotes from the book, write an essay at least 4 paragraphs long answering the questions: how are the characters in the book oppressed by means other than violence? How do they react? do they challenge the oppression or accept it? what happens when they challenge it?

Make sure you have a focused thesis statement.

Setting

The setting of a book is not just the place where the story happens, but also the time and the historical situation. "Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry" is set in a time and place that is very different from where we live in New York City today. Try to imagine, using at least 4 direct quotes from the book, what the setting of the characters' lives is really like. Make sure you answer the following questions:

1. Where does the story take place?
2. When does the story take place?
3. What challenges (at least two) do the characters face because of where they live and who they are?
4. Do you think you would react the same way as Cassie and her brothers if you lived in this setting?
5. Once you have identified the time and place of the story, do some research on line about what life was like for people during that time and in that place. "Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry" is fiction, but do you think Mildred Taylor has accurately captured the setting?

Cassie

Cassie is the narrator.

She has three little brothers named Little Man, who is 6, Christopher-John, who is 7, and Stacey, who is 12.

They all live in Mississippi in 1933. Cassie's father owns 400 acres of land, but is having trouble paying the taxes on the land because the price of cotton is down. So her father goes to work for the transcontinental railroad laying track.

Cassie's father is worried that his children might not be able to live on their own land.

"Look out there Cassie girl, all that belongs to you. You ain't never had it like that, you ain't never had to live on nobody's place but your own as long as I live and the family survives." (p. 4)